Truth
by Dakk Tribal
Summary: Lightning works at SE HQ, along with her friend Tidus, and their relationship is shaky to begin with, can it be mended?  AU, LightningxTidus, also my next ScreamWorks tribute, 'In Venere Veritas'.


The loud sound of the alarm clock woke Lightning; her hand lazily crept from under the covers to shut it off. She sat up and gave a big yawn, stretching her arms out overhead, feeling the blood rush to her brain made her head feel even heavier.

She looked at the clock. '9 AM…' Lightning sighed, she had to get to work before 10 otherwise her boss would surely fire her.

So, after slowly getting out of the bed, she went and took a quick shower, did her hair, and got dressed in a slow but sure way. Her business suit was all black with a white dress shirt under that. It was a tight fit too, just the way she liked it. Around her neck she wore the L'Cie member necklace, made of silver and shaped like the L'Cie brand. She was a member of the L'Cie Corps, which was a branch of the FF-Brigade at SE-HQ.

After this, she locked up her apartment and made her way outside. The weather was not good. Hot as hell, nearly 95 degrees, and not a cloud in the sky. Not only that, but no breeze. And to make matters worse, Lightning didn't have her car yet, so she not only lost her air-conditioning, but she had to walk too. She didn't look forward to that, not at all.

So, slinging her bag over her shoulder, Lightning began her walk.

Seems like she arrived in time, as it were. The floor where her office was was located on the fourth floor, a short ride in the elevator. Lightning was going to make it, though only by a slim margin. _I would have been here earlier, but when your car breaks down your options for transport are limited. Especially for someone like me._

Lightning was one of the best, but not exactly the nicest worker in SE. While her job was accounting and deskwork, she did it with speed and perfection, however, this was because she didn't like others around her when she worked. Her concentration suffered greatly when others were around. And as soon as the day was over, she was the first one out the door. It was because of this that she earned the name Lightning, quick at work and gone in a flash.

Her office was the first one closest to the elevator, one she had actually wanted, and easiest to escape when she didn't want to hang around anyone at lunch.

Her office was small and simple, her preferred style. The desk was small and typical, located in the center of the room; the tabletop contents all tidy and untouched since Lightning had last used them. There were a couple filing cabinets located behind the rotating chair behind the desk. Other than a sofa near the door and a phone on a side table near the desk, the room was bare, nothing on the walls.

It didn't take long for that phone to ring, either.

Lightning let the answering machine get it, as she was drying the sweat on her forehead with a towel she had retrieved from her bag. After the third ring, a younger woman's voice was heard. A voice that belonged to her colleague, Vanille.

"Hello, Light? I know you're there, trying to do your work, but I thought I should let you know that Serah will not be in today. Abdominal pains she said. Just to let you know, okay? Ciao!"

The message ended with the beep, and Lightning took off her jacket, placing it on the sofa. Vanille's words did not surprise her. Snow had called her early that morning, just before they left, and said Serah was going to the hospital to check on the baby. _She isn't due for another month, but it's more than necessary to check._

Lightning was more than worried about her sister, but Snow had assured her that he'd call the second something came up. And from Lightning's experience with the man, he was a man of his word.

Lightning went and decided to check her messages, since she had gotten off work early last night. Sitting down at her desk, Lightning waited for the next message to speak up, and she got a message from someone in another department named Zell.

"Hey Lightning its Zell, have you heard from Selphie? She hasn't reported back. Let me know if you've heard anything, okay?"

_She's avoiding you dipshit…_

Lightning thought with a bit of anger in her mind. The real reason Selphie wasn't in today was because Zell punched her boyfriend out in a fight over the poor girl, hospitalizing him, and Zell got arrested. She didn't know how the punk got out of jail, but Lightning knew that Selphie wasn't coming back. At least not for a while.

As that message ended, Lightning put on her reading glasses and pulled out her papers, documents about the purchase of airships. As she checked her pencils, the third and final message started, and the voice that made it made Lightning stop dead in her tracks:

"Hey Lightning, we need to talk sometime. About us. Later."

That was by the head of the Guardians, Tidus. He was also Lightning's boyfriend.

_SECRET boyfriend,_ Lightning corrected herself knowing full well that members of different departments were not supposed to be fraternizing with each other while at HQ. While it wasn't really a rule, you could get docked points for doing so, and so far, Lightning had been rather fortunate to avoid the gaze of the boss, Mr. Nomura. God only knows what she'd be doing now if she HAD been caught.

As her thoughts went from her boss back to Tidus, Lightning began to recall the last time they had been together:

It was three days ago. Tidus had asked Lightning out for dinner, and things went rather hectic after they went to Lightning's house. It started with a kiss, then it went to touching, groping, and finally it nearly got to the most extreme point before Lightning stopped him. Tidus was not sure what was wrong, but Lightning had told him:

'I'm not sure I am ready for this yet…'

This appeared to hurt Tidus to an extent, since he lost whatever energy he had up to that point, and then he picked his things up and walked out, leaving Lightning rather distraught. For two days Tidus didn't talk to her, not until that message on Lightning's machine.

And because of that, Lightning wasn't too sure she should have the relationship with Tidus. I mean, she had been with guys before, but Tidus was a kind and caring man, handsome to boot. Any woman would want him, but to Lightning, she didn't feel as though she loved him.

She couldn't answer that, not yet…

Grabbing her phone, she dialed Tidus' cell number, forgetting everything else, and left him a text message in a language he would know:

_Rao Tidus, ed'c Lightning. E lyh'd dymg huf, pid saad sa rana tinehk yvdan ruinc, frah hu uha amca ec ynuiht, yht fa'mm dymg demm tyfh ev fa ryja du. Caa oui drah, mydan._

Then she pressed enter…

It wasn't long before Tidus got the message. He was sitting at his desk, three floors down, and texted back:

"_You don't have to use Al Bhed, Light."_

Lightning made a smile on the phone then sent it to him, followed by a message:

"_I'll see you on the late shift."_

Tidus took a deep breath and texted back that he would see her then.

It was 11 PM before the late shift started. Lightning was still hard at work, or at least making herself look busy in case Mr. Nomura came by to check on her. Luckily, that didn't happen, and she was able to concentrate on the matters at hand, like how to deal with Tidus without making him feel worse.

Lightning took her reading glasses off, then tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Her mind couldn't shake off the images from the incident three nights ago. She also couldn't shake off the regret that lingered afterwards. When they nearly had sex she literally called him off.

Why? She would say she wasn't ready, or she didn't feel comfortable.

The real reason was she felt she didn't deserve it. An odd reason one would think, but to Claire Farron it was the most plausible explanation for her relationship. She felt it was the truth and now she was gripping, nearly crying over it.

_I just have to tell Tidus that we should slow down a little, take it slow and work our way to it…but that wouldn't be telling the truth now would it?_

It was then that she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in."

Slowly the door opened, and in stepped Tidus, head of the Guardians. Wearing a ruffled up suit with no tie and black slacks, his light blond hair all gelled up and spikey.

Lightning stood up, putting her jacket on her chair and walking to the front of her desk and leaned on it, "So, what do we need to talk about?"

Tidus scratched the back of his head, a gesture of nervousness Lightning recognized. "What happened three days ago…was my fault."

Lightning shook her head, "No, I hesitated, we were far into our relationship, and I knew it would come to that point. However, it came too soon I suppose…"

Tidus walked up to her, "Still, I moved too fast. I took it slow for you, but when I saw an opening, I went for it without your consolation. For that, Light, I am sorry…"

This surprised Lightning, _Glad to know that I was not the only one not ready for it."_ She put a hand to his cheek, a comforting gesture, "No need to apologize, Tidus, its alright."

He placed his hand over hers, "Telling the truth isn't too hard after all, eh?"

Smiling, Lightning gave him a quick kiss on the lips, "In love, there is truth."


End file.
